A. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a locking device of a seat rail of a vehicle, and more particularly, to a locking device of a seat rail of a vehicle, capable of allowing a user to adjust a forward-and-backward position of a seat appropriately for the body of the user by restricting movement of an upper rail moving forward and backward and combined onto a lower rail fixed to a body of the vehicle.
B. Background Art
In general, a seat of a vehicle is to maintain a user in an optimal riding pose, and includes a seat back for supporting an upper body of the user, and a seat cushion for supporting a lower body of the user, e.g., hips and thighs.
A seat of a vehicle may slide in forward and backward directions of the vehicle within a certain range in order to adjust the seat appropriately for the body of a user and to efficiently utilize an internal space of the vehicle, and a seat rail allows the seat to slide.
A seat rail generally includes a lower rail fixed onto a bottom surface of a vehicle, i.e., a floor panel, in a longitudinal direction of a body of the vehicle, and an upper rail slidably combined with the lower rail and fixed to a seat cushion.
The upper rail moves along the lower rail by a certain distance and then is temporarily fixed to the lower rail. In more detail, the seat rail further includes a locking device for temporarily fixing the upper rail that moves on the lower rail.
Accordingly, when the locking device is released, since the upper rail may slide along the lower rail and thus a seat of a vehicle may move in forward and backward directions of a body of the vehicle by a certain distance, an internal space of the vehicle may be efficiently utilized or a comfortable ride of a user may be maintained.
A conventional locking device of a seat rail includes a lock guide 6 fixed onto a lower surface of an upper rail 3, a lock 7 disposed between the lock, guide 6 and the upper rail 3, lock holes 2a formed in the lower rail 2 at equal intervals along a longitudinal direction of the lower rail 2, and a lock spring 10 for pressing the lock 7 to be engaged with the lock holes 2a of the lower rail 2.
A connection hole 7a is formed in an upper portion of the lock 7 and to be connected to an actuation lever protruding in a forward direction of the seat rail, and the lock 7 protrudes through an entrance hole 3a formed in an upper surface of the upper rail 3.
A plurality of lock bumps 7b are formed under the lock 7 and are inserted into the lock holes 2a formed in the lower rail 2.
In the above-described conventional locking device, two sets of seat rails each including the lower and upper rails 2 and 3 are fixed to a lower surface of a seat cushion at two sides. Due to an assembly variation generated when seat rails are assembled onto a bottom surface of a vehicle, a position deviation occurs between the lower and upper rails 2 and 3. If the lock bumps 7b are formed integrally with the lock 7, only one of two seat rails is rocked, the other of the seat rails is unlocked, and thus a user's safety may not be ensured.
Also, in the conventional locking device, since inclined surfaces of the lock bumps 7b inserted into the lock holes 2a simultaneously contact the lock holes 2a, noise may be generated due to minute vibration caused while the lock bumps 7b move upwardly to release a locked state.